Jermaine Jenas apologises for 'inappropriate' texts after presenter sacked by BBC

Jenas admitted to sending the messages in an interview with The Sun

Jermaine Jenas has admitted and apologised for sending "inappropriate" messages to two women leading to his sacking from the BBC.

In an interview with the Sun on Friday, the former Premier League footballer apologised to the women he messaged, saying he is "so sorry".

“I am ashamed, and I am deeply sorry," the 41-year-old said.

“I have let myself down, my family, friends and colleagues down, and I owe everyone an apology - especially the women with whom I was messaging. I am so, so sorry."

Jenas, whose been married to model Ellie Penfold for 13 years, said he knew one of the women through work and insisted he texted "consenting adults".

"I’m not proud of what I wrote and what I said. And I do consider it cheating, yes, although nothing physical ever happened," he explained.

"I did nothing illegal - these were inappropriate messages between two consenting adults.

"With one she made it clear she was interested. “In that particular instance, there was an adult conversation that took place in a bar in London where that person made it very clear that they had an attraction to me.

"Yes there was alcohol involved but I take full responsibility."

The father-of-four was fired from the BBC on Monday while on a family holiday, just three days before the organisation publicly announced the decision.

He added that he must "take responsibility" for falling below BBC "standards".

Jenas was dropped from presenting BBC's Match of the Day and The One Show following complaints about workplace conduct.

Jenas' agency, MC Saatchi, then confirmed that it no longer represented him.

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He was live on talkSPORT's drive show along with Jermaine Pennant when news of his departure from the BBC broke.

Jenas insisted he is not a "sex pest" and the public does not "know the truth".

He said: “I feel people don’t know the truth and are forming opinions about me that aren’t accurate.

"I wasn’t going through some kind of BBC vault trying to get women’s numbers.

"I’m obviously going to say I’m not a sex pest."

TalkSPORT has said there are "no plans" for Jenas to be a presenter for them in the immediate future.

Formula E, which Jenas has hosted its 10th season on TNT Sports, said it will "carefully consider" and account its "high standards" when choosing the presenter for season 11.

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